Put Pedals to the Pavement in Paris

Chef Christian Etchebest opened La Cantine du Troquet (101, rue de l'Ouest; no phone, no reservations)—a casual spinoff of his popular restaurant Troquet—in June. Pair Basque-inspired dishes like mint pea soup and roast chicken in black-olive sauce with one of the young, bold—and more affordable—wines (like a 2006 Côtes d’Auvergne) on the list.

Young chef Sylvain Sendra opened his Itinéraires (5, rue de Pontoise; 33-1-46-33-60-11) in the Latin Quarter in April. He serves a rotating selection of carefully executed modern bistro fare, like a “cappuccino” made with puréed oysters and braised beef cheek with buttery mashed potatoes, in a surprisingly relaxed atmosphere.

Parisian restaurants are often shuttered Sunday nights, but not Lao Lane Xang 2 (102, avenue d’Ivry; 33-1-58-89-00-00), an upscale Laotian–Southeast Asian restaurant that opened in Chinatown last winter. The spicy toasted rice salad with hints of lime and chile and duck breast lacquered in a red curry and tamarind sauce cleanse the palate after a weekend of heavy French food.